by Joe Ferriss

What Got Away?

Musings on What Might Have Been by Joe Ferriss

photos from the Ferriss and Forbis collections

This feature is based on a previous two-part article I wrote for the Arabian Essence Newsletters that first appeared in August and October 2010.

Al Khamsa has increasingly been concerned about preservation of all its remaining bloodlines and in fact the Preservation Task Force has led the way in sounding alarms about what may become lost with its color code system. Presumably the more widely known horses of "straight Egyptian lineage," mainly represented by imports from Egypt would seem to be in good shape and perhaps not have a place in a feature like this. Yet even the Straight Egyptian horse, which descends from only 66 original desert-bred imports to Egypt, also has its future challenges in maintaining diversity and preserving what it has. Preserving anything always faces challenges over time considering social upheavals, political changes, and economic crises. The RAS (Royal Agricultural Society, later named EAO: Egyptian Agricultural Organization) was no different in being presented with challenges to its Arabian horse population.

So presented herein are some photos of horses born at the RAS and EAO many years ago who are no longer found in straight Egyptian breeding but might have made some interesting contributions to the quality and genetic choices for today’s straight Egyptians. We do not always know the actual circumstances as to why the following horses were not selected to continue in the breeding stock in Egypt, or bred on as exports to other countries, but just seeing these photos and their accompanying pedigree descriptions stimulates thought and perhaps will lead to some reflection as to what not to let "get away" in the future.

In the late 1930s at the RAS, Nazeer would have been a young horse at the racetrack and then out at the stallion depots, so he was not yet a phenomenon to be presented to visitors. His sire Mansour was much in use and had proved to be a very good sire. Mansour’s first prominent son, Sheikh El Arab (x Bint Sabah), would precede Nazeer at stud at the RAS. Today we have Sheikh El Arab blood only through his daughters, not any of his sons.

In the Forbis archive are photos of two sons of Sheikh El Arab who are not found today in straight Egyptian breeding. The first is the 1940 bay stallion El Dalil (x Bint Dalal). He was used once by the RAS producing a bay daughter named Dalila II (x Shams) sold as a three-year-old. Nothing much is known about what became of El Dalil, but since his daughter was out of the mare Shams (Mashaan x Bint Samiha) there must have been some interest for racing potential. He appears to be a very handsome horse.

El Dalil 1940 bay stallion by Sheikh El Arab x Bint Dalal. This handsome bay stallion is one of the Sheikh El Arab sons that “got away.” Forbis archive photo.

Salhan 1943 grey stallion (Sheikh El Arab x Medallela), a handsome full brother to Wanisa, dam of Moniet El Nefous. Forbis archive photo.

The second son of Sheikh El Arab pictured is Salhan, a 1943 grey stallion out of Medallela, making him a full brother to Wanisa, the dam of legendary Moniet El Nefous. A handsome horse, Salhan also exhibits the type and quality that seems consistent from Sheikh El Arab. However, there are no recorded get of Salhan and nothing further is known about his fate. Sheikh El Arab’s daughters became legendary for their produce, yet sadly no sons succeeded him. Because most of his get were born during the era of World War II, one could speculate that point in history might have limited breeding opportunities for Arabians at the RAS. Perhaps if either of these two Sheikh El Arab sons had been given an opportunity for a good selection of mares, things would be different. They would have added a new branch to the Saklawi I sire line, which now is only represented by Nazeer. Note Habashi’s excellent legs and good proportions as well as large eyes well placed in his head. Habashi was sired by Mansour, so again, if he had been given an opportunity at stud, he could have created another branch of the Saklawi I sire line. A number of good stallions from the RAS spent their lives in the stallion depots out in the provinces to improve local horses and that is no doubt a worthy contribution for the Egyptian population who depended on good horseflesh to conduct their daily business.

Bint Rabdan, 1921 grey mare (Rabdan El Azrak x Bint Gamila) a lovely full sister to Ibn Rabdan. Forbis archive photo.

Digging further in the Forbis archive reveals a photo of the RAS mare Bint Rabdan. This lovely flea-bitten grey mare is a full sister to the celebrated sire Ibn Rabdan (Rabdan El Azrak x Bint Gamila). She was born in 1921 and produced five foals for the RAS. Unfortunately, she died after her fifth foal, named Hakma, sired by El Deree. Hakma was sold to Mohammed Hilmi Baleigh and has no recorded progeny. Her only other daughter Rasmeia, sired by Rustem, was sold to the Italian government. So there were no daughters to replace Bint Rabdan at the RAS — a loss considering the legacy of the Hadban Inzihi strain. Bint Rabdan produced three sons, Ibn Bint Rabdan (x Hamran), Dahshan (x Mansour) and Habashi (x Mansour). Ibn Bint Rabdan was listed as being at the government stallion depot to breed local mares in the Menoufia Province. However no horses of RAS descent sired by him are known to exist. Dahshan died at age nine without any get, and there are no get recorded for the other stallion Habashi. For such a nice mare, it is a shame that Bint Rabdan did not leave any legacy today, even though there is considerable representation of her brother Ibn Rabdan. Judging from Bint Rabdan’s son Habashi, who is pictured here, there seems to be a lot of quality in her get.

Habashi, 1935 grey stallion (Mansour x Bint Rabdan). He was Bint Rabdan’s last son before she died. Note his overall high quality. Forbis archive photo.

Speaking of stallion depots, another handsome stallion that "got away" is Ibn Sabah, born 1926, by Hamran x Sabah, the dam of Bint Sabah. He spent his life at the stallion depot at Beni Souef in the Wasta district but left no progeny at the RAS. Nazeer himself spend much of his life in the provinces before being called back for stud at the RAS when he was 15 years old.

Ibn Sabah, 1926 chestnut stallion (Hamran x Sabah). He was sent to the stallion depot. Forbis archive photo.

While on the subject of Nazeer and the Hadban Inzahi strain, Nazeer’s dam was favored by the racing community and her line has done well on the track. In honor of the new young King Farouk, the RAS gave the stallion Hamdan (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Radia) to the Royal Inshass Stud in exchange for El Deree from the King. At the RAS, El Deree sired a number of good foals, one of which was out of Nazeer’s dam Bint Samiha. The resulting foal was the mare Morgana. This would have been an ideal representative of both parents. In Morgana’s picture as a young mare, one can see the good legs and conformation of her sire along with a lovely head from her dam. Morgana was sold to Mohammed Taher Pasha, presumably for the racing community; however, she left no recorded progeny for the RAS. El Deree was a wonderful outcross for the RAS mares giving quality and genetic diversity. It would have been very nice if Morgana had replaced herself several times at the RAS before being sold but it was not to be. one of Nazeer's full sisters had been retained at the RAS to see how she would have contributed, but it was not to be.

Morgana, 1936 grey mare (El Deree x Bint Samiha). Another good El Deree daughter bred by the RAS sold to Mohammed Taher Pasha. Forbis archive photo.

Another El Deree get produced in 1936 at the RAS was the stallion Azeem (at right) out of Hind (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Rustem). His photo as a young horse shows the good overall quality and form of another El Deree get from a mare of the Hadban Inzihi strain. His dam’s line is that of the famed Aswan and Simeon Shai. If Azeem had been retained by the RAS and given an opportunity for a selection of good mares, it would have been another chance to preserve the now very rare El Deree sire line. But it did not happen.

Let's explore some more possibilities that got away. First is the full sister to Nazeer, Bint Bint Samiha. Actually, there were two full sisters to the legendary Nazeer produced before Nazeer was born. Both were purchased by Ahmed El Sherif. While there are no recorded progeny from these two in the RAS studbooks, it is likely that they became a part of the racing community, since there was a great deal of respect for the produce of Bint Samiha as racing prospects. One can see by the yearling photo of Bint Bint Samiha that the special kind of dryness and refinement associated with Nazeer is also apparent in his full sister. It would have been interesting if

Bint Bint Samiha 1932 grey mare (Mansour x Bint Samiha) a full sister to Nazeer shown here as a yearling. Forbis archive photo.

A stallion of the Hadban Inzahi strain on both sides of his pedigree was the black-bay stallion El Akhrani born at the RAS in 1937. His is an interesting pedigree because he is by the desert bred stallion Nabras and out of the RAS mare Bint Rustem, who founded a dynasty of many greats, including Aswan, Ibn Galal and many others. Bint Rustem herself was close to desert breeding so this would make El Akhrani a useful outcross for Egyptian breeding at the RAS. He was first sold to Mohammed Taher Pasha as a young

Azeem as a young colt, 1936 grey stallion (El Deree x Hind). A good El Deree son bred by the RAS Forbis archive photo.

horse and so became a part of the racing community. Later he was owned by Queen Nazli of Egypt and when she came to America in 1950, she imported four horses including El Akhrani. It appears that El Akhrani was then acquired by Queen Nazli's son-in-law Riyad Ghali in California. However, it was not until El Akhrani was 27 years old that he sired his first foals, three of which were out of Al Khamsa mares that were Egyptian, early Blunt, and Davenport desert breeding. The three were: El Saree, bay stallion (x Baba), who did not produce any Al Khamsa foals; Masai, black stallion (x Khumissi) who also did not produce any Al Khamsa foals; and Bint Khuziby, bay mare (x Khuziby) who produced one Al Khamsa daughter (by *Ansata Ibn Halima). However, she did not leave any foals; thus, El Akhrani "got away" from Al Khamsa breeders. Likewise, El Akhrani did not carry on within straight Egyptian breeding so he was lost to Egyptian breeders as well, which is sad considering the quality of his pedigree and the potential for adding another sire line in straight Egyptian breeding. The one photo of El Akhrani shows a handsome horse with large expressive eyes, so true to close-up desert breeding.

El Akhrani 1937 black-bay stallion (Nabras x Bint Rustem) imported to the U.S. as an old horse by Queen Nazli of Egypt. Forbis archive. Hamama and she was absolutely magnificent, perhaps the best mare of the 1932 WR Brown importation. I provide one photo of her here, at bottom. She did produce a few straight Egyptian foals in America but most were exported to South America and England, where at that time there were no straight Egyptian horses for them. While H.H. Mohammed Alis Hamama is found in the pedigrees of other international champions, sadly, she is lost to straight Egyptian breeding, and to Al Khamsa breeding.

Above: H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamida 1929 grey mare (Nasr x Mahroussa) imported to the U.S. in 1932 by W.R. Brown. Ferriss archive.

Below: H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamama 1927 grey mare (Kawkab x Mahroussa) imported to the U.S. in 1932 by W.R. Brown. Ferriss archive.

El Akhrani 1937 black-bay stallion (Nabras x Bint Rustem) imported to the U.S. as an old horse by Queen Nazli of Egypt. Forbis archive.

Another loss to American breeders of straight Egyptian bloodlines was the two mares, bred by Prince Mohamed Ali, H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamida (Nasr x Mahroussa) and H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamama (Kawkab x Mahroussa). Both were among the much-admired 1932 imports by W.R. Brown that included Nasr, Zarife, Aziza, Roda (who are found in straight Egyptian pedigrees still) and H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamida and H.H. Mohamed Hamama (who are not). H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamida is still preserved within Al Khamsa bloodlines; however, she is lost to straight Egyptian breeding. The lovely H.H. Mohamed Alis Hamama was sired by Kawkab (Saklawi II x Om Dalal), an excellent stallion of Prince Mohamed Ali who is only found in descendants of the Inshass mare Ragaa. I saw old home movies of H.H. Mohamed Alis

Ibn Gamila, 1929 chestnut stallion (Kazmeen x Gamila Manial) imported in 1934 to the US by Frances M. Dodge. Forbis archive.

So let us take a look at some of the following photos of a few of the RAS bred representatives of the Kuhaylan Mimreh strain that "got away" from us.

When the Inshass Royal stud was dispersed and some of its horses went to the EAO, it was a treasure that we now realize. Because of

While we are on the subject of losses of imported Egyptian bloodlines in the US, here is another interesting horse to mention. The internationally known horsewoman Frances M. Dodge, daughter of John Francis Dodge, co-founder of Dodge Motor Company, became famous for her American Saddlebred horses and later Standardbreds. In 1934, she made a trip to Egypt and fell for a handsome chestnut stallion at the RAS named Ibn Gamila. He was foaled in 1929, sired by the renowned Crabbet stallion Kazmeen and out of Gamila Manial (of the Kuhaylan Mimreh strain) from Prince Mohamed Ali. Ibn Gamila arrived in the US. However, there is no record of his ever having sired any Arabians or half-Arabians. His history in the US remains a mystery and a loss because he would have introduced a sire line to Kazmeen and also represented the celebrated dam line of the strain of Kuhaylan Mimreh, now lost in tail female to straight Egyptian and only rarely preserved in Al Khamsaeligible breeding in South Africa. Once again, another one that "got away."

On the subject of the celebrated Kuhaylan Mimreh, it seems odd that this once prized family seems to only make its way down through the passage of time only via stallions and not mares. Such well-known Egyptian stallions as Mabrouk Manial, Mansour, Ibn Samhan and Hadban are of the Kuhaylan Mimreh strain. Looking through the RAS studbook Vol. 1, there are numerous mares of the Kuhaylan Mimreh strain and many were sold to prominent Egyptian citizens, perhaps being popular for the racing community. Selling so many, however, meant that there were few mares left at the RAS to potentially carry on this strain. The mare Barakah (Ibn Manial x Gamalat) went in 1945 to South Africa and she turned out to be the last hope for preserving the Mimreh in tail female straight Egyptian breeding, but in the end only her sons in straight Egyptian breeding would carry her forward. Her only tail female Al Khamsaeligible descent would come via her daughter by the Bahraini stallion Tuwaisan.

Shouman, 1935 grey stallion (Mansour x Gamila Manial). He was

Kuhaylan Mimreh through both sire and dam, but he left no progeny at the RAS. Forbis archive. Lost to straight Egyptian breeding. Mahasin 1931 grey mare (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Gamila Manial) pictured as a young mare. Full sister to Hurra. She produced four foals, all sold to prominent racing enthusiasts in Egypt. She is lost to straight Egyptian breeding now. Kuhaylan Mimreh strain.

Hurra, 1932 grey mare, (Ibn Rabdan x Bint Gamila Manial), pictured with chestnut colt, El Bahr (x Kheir). Hurra was sold to H.E. Ali Islam Pasha. Mare and foal both lost to straight Egyptian breeding. Kuhaylan Mimreh strain.

the Inshass breeding program, the strains of Abayyan Om Jurays and Kuhaylan Krush were added to the gene pool the new EAO had to work with. Among the very nice mares of the Kuhaylan Krush group was the lovely fleabitten grey mare Shaheera. She was sired by the Anter son Ghazi, who was out of a mare tracing to the same female line as HH Mohamed Alis Hamama. Shaheera's dam is Shahd, who was preserved in the Bint Shahbaa line exported to the U.S. and

Germany and retained in the stallion Sabeel in Egypt and AK Shahm in the US. From the photo, one can see that Shaheera was a wonderful mare and although she produced five foals in Egypt, they are all sired by the non-Al Khamsa, non-straight Egyptian desert bred stallion Sharkasi, and her blood is no longer found in Egypt. In Egypt, the RAS had acquired the excellent stallion El Nasser of the Kuhaylan Dajani strain. He was a good sire of horses who not only raced well but looked good also. However, only one of his descendants bred forward into modern Egyptian pedigrees, the stallion Nasralla, sired by Balance and out of the Hadban Inzahi mare Sehr a granddaughter of Bint Rustem (who produced El Akhrani mentioned above). Nasralla has proved to be an influence of great quality and is in many thousands of Egyptian horses today. However, another very handsome son of El Nasser was El Moutannabi, who was also a Hadban Inzahi stallion out of Fasiha (Awad x Hind), a granddaughter of Bint Rustem. El Moutannabi raced very well. Because he became a part of the racing community, he did not leave any registered foals in the EAO studbooks. His photos show a very handsome stallion of great quality and type. El Moutannabi would have been another opportunity for the kind of formula that helped to extend the success of the horse of Egypt — that of an outcross desert bred horse combined with an Egyptian bred one. This formula created the great sires Sid Abouhom (El Deree x Layla) and Sameh (El Moez x Shaheera 1955 grey mare (Ghazi x Shahbaa) a lovely mare lost now to straight Samira INS), the excellent mare Shams (Mashaan x Bint Egyptian breeding. Forbis archive. Samiha) and the important sire Kheir (Ibn Samhan x

El Moutannabi 1949 grey stallion (El Nasser x Fasiha). More than half-brother to Nasralla, El Moutannabi was a handsome horse who raced very well. Forbis archive. Badaouia), all found in the pedigree of many of today's straight Egyptian horses.

While all of this reflection on "what got away" is just speculation and perhaps a bit of lament about past choices, this feature is intended to encourage thinking about what has bred on into today and what has been lost, and to take a second look at maintaining some diversity so that the future of Egyptian breeding will not need to be one of fewer choices and lament about what got away. Every new foal born deserves a closer look. Every strain and family of our prized Al Khamsa Arabians needs to be valued with a look to the future. Let us not be like the person who turns a blind eye now, only to become focused after he discovers what he lost.

This blog is maintained by Edouard Al Dahdah, a breeder and lover of Desert Arabian Horses, and otherwise an economist at the World Bank. It seeks to share a passion, of course, but also to raise awareness about desert Arabian horses, their homeland and their heritage. Keep reading and I will keep posting.

Daughter of the Wind...

From eyelashes to ancient skyscrapers in Yemen, from study of the Arabic copy of the Abbas Pasha manuscript to the asil horses of Tunisia, from ancient Arabian history to new foals, from early 19th century European Arabian breeders to Arabian oryx and wolves: this blog is always fascinating and welcomes your input.

http://daughterofthewind.org/

Mlolshaan Hager Solomon, photographed in old age by Jenny Kreig

We continue to advertise and support the Khamsat magazine because it is here that the Arabian horse of centuries can be found. As a researcher and author, I not only saved my Khamsats from the beginning, but I also refer back to them for information. Often this information is found not only in the articles but also in the advertising. So with pride we continue to support the only magazine of its kind, the Khamsat, and we encourage others to do so also.

The passing of two Living Treasures of Bahrain....

I remember the excitement when I found out in 1996 that there was an Asil stallion from Bahrain in Michigan only about two hours drive away! I found out that the horse was a gift from Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khalifa to the William Biel family in Michigan. The whole family loved this horse and enjoyed him even though they were not familiar with Arabians. The stallion still had not been registered here. I learned that much from Danah Al-Khalifa, the incomparable authority on Bahrain Arabians, who I had become friends with while working on the book: Saluqi, Coursing Hound of the East, an anthology in which she wrote one of the chapters about horses and Saluqis in Bahrain. So I told Danah, that I would go look at the horse and also see if I could help get him registered. Wow, I was so impressed with him! In June of that year I wrote to Danah about what I saw, excerpted here:

Dear Danah, Yesterday I drove up to Ada, Michigan to visit with Bill Biel and his stallion, “Hager,” [later registered as Mlolshaan Hager Solomon AHR #547139] from Bahrain. I got some nice video of the stallion despite some problems with my old video camera. I did not get any photos of him as I left my still camera in the car and the place that he wished to have the horse turned loose for videoing was about a mile away from my car but I figured I would return another time to take photos. This horse is a wonderful animal, about 10 years old, white with a very pearl-like quality to his coat and mane, very fine coated, fine skinned and fine clean bone with ample tendon. The veins are not only prominent in his face and elsewhere but very large as well. He is very much like many of the Davenport Arabians here in America. [reminiscent of Prince Hal or his progeny] He has the most beautiful, soulful dark eyes, with very long eyelashes. A very wise, smart and friendly horse that has a wonderful disposition, extremely calm and confident but also showy only when he comes near other horses. Mr. Biel’s children ride this horse as well as Mr Biel. Hager’s body proportions are very harmonious, graceful flowing lines, with nothing to excess (as Homer Davenport put it) all fitting in to the illusion of a sort of square shape. His height is about 14.3+ but with enough air underneath him to give the impression of being taller. He walks like a predator, long reaching stride, long free shoulder. At liberty, he runs flat out from the body down like a swift runner, but carries his head relatively high and strongly positioned. His full speed trot is extremely driving swallowing up enormous amounts of ground with tremendous drive from behind and lots of reach in front with a little float and dwell. His trot reminded me of the published photo of the Saudi mare *Al Obayyah at full trot. We walked the mile over to Mr. Biel’s neighbor’s large paddock for the liberty footage and periodically Hager would do something interesting. Most stallions are keen of scent anyway, but he would ever so often raise his head up very high while keeping the plane of his skull parallel to the ground and open his huge nostrils, slowly drinking in a large volume of air that he was clearly analyzing for familiar scents. The way in which he did this was more like one would expect from an elk or a caribou in the wild. His eyes grew large and with an intense but distant stare. He was clearly thinking about what the scents meant to him but he never broke stride. His ability to expand his nostrils so large and take in so much air while walking and never missing a step makes his doing this much more dramatic. After doing this he seemed to know exactly where every building was that housed a horse before any horses made any sounds. As to pedigree, Mr. Biel is going to send me copies of the paperwork he has but he did show me the pedigree you prepared for him which appears to be all old Bahrain families. (interestingly, the pedigree is the last thing I saw in our visit and I didn’t even think about asking for it once I first saw the horse step out of the stall.) We have nothing of the Mlolshaan family in America so it is a pleasure to see one of these. The gift from Shaikh Mohammed has the potential of planting seeds much like a fine and unique plant which bears fruit, the flavor and scent of which will always spread an appreciation for spirit of the original gift. The blossom can be observed by anyone who appreciates beauty, but the fruit assures the plant will be there for the next generation to admire. As you know it has become my mission to share with Westerners the joy of what was no trouble for me to see. Perhaps it was inspired by my purchase of your book “Living Treasures of the Bahrain” in 1975. Without even examining Hager’s breeding or where he came from, he immediately gives a true, “natural” impression of a Desert Arabian and I think he is a magnificent representative of the Asil horse. I think the horse is a great compliment to the kind of Arabians of which Bahrain has had such a long history and a fine compliment to the Shaikh and his extended family.

With Danah’s encouaragement, I was able to get Mlolshaan Hager Solomon registered and later accepted by Al Khamsa. By then he was quite old but fortunately he left a few Al Khamsa foals to carry on his lineage. Now they are both gone, Mlolshaan Hager Solomon and Danah Al-Khalifa. A fitting tribute to Danah appears elsewhere in this Khamsat and Mlolshaan’s tribute will continue in the generations ahead as he imparts the spirit of the Asil horses of Bahrain into the Al Khamsa genotype.

Brownstone Farm Since 1972

Joe & Sharon Ferriss 1059 Lukesport Road • Quincy, MI 49082 Tel. (517) 639-4443 • e-mail: ferrissjs@dmcibb.net